MONTREAL – Johny Hendricks’ famed left land made its presence known early, and Carlos Condit just wouldn’t go down.

In a “Fight of the Night” contender, Condit battled back late in the fight, but Hendricks’ early lead proved too much to overcome. “Big Rigg” took home a unanimous decision and afterward called out champ Georges St-Pierre.

The welterweight bout served as the co-main event of UFC 158, which took place at Montreal’s Bell Centre. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and Facebook.

Condit felt the brunt of Hendricks’ power early, but he revealed a strategy to deal with the red-hot welterweight’s punches. As Hendricks threw and landed, Condit retorted mid-exchange with a knee up the middle that gave him a brief reprieve.

Hendricks, though, followed up his flurries with takedowns. Condit was unable to stop them and spent much of the first two rounds attempting to get off his back. Most submission attempts proved fruitless, but Condit was briefly able to take Hendricks’ back after threatening with a kimura.

In the second round, Condit landed a flying knee that cracked Hendricks in the jaw. But like his opponent, Hendricks was able to weather the heavy shot and continue fighting. When Condit charged forward in pursuit, he was deposited on the ground.

At one point, Hendricks baited Condit by backing up to the cage, only to take the fight down again.

Between the second and third rounds, Hendricks revealed to his corner that he had injured his left hand during the fight. But that problem was compounded by another: a fading gas tank. The fresher Condit attacked with punches, kicks and knees, but was time and time again foiled by Hendricks’ wrestling.

Condit’s desire to brawl won the crowd’s heart, but not the judges. Unanimous scores of 29-28 for Hendricks were greeted with boos.

Hendricks (15-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC), who was originally slated to meet Jake Ellenberger, now improves to five straight wins while Condit (28-7 MMA, 5-3 UFC), who was originally set to meet Rory MacDonald, has now dropped back-to-back fights.

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